Anne Boleyn
Post date:

Demo:
Liner Notes:
I did this song acoustically, a basic demo, but it's really a heavy metal song, hahaha! I have to do some work on arranging it more and working on electric guitar with it. Heavy metal is such a masculine genre of music. Even though it's one of my favorite genres, I feel like it misses the boat, since not many women's stories are told. It's a genre filled with mythology, history, legends, and stories, but they mostly are about men!
I'll admit that I'm a bit obsessed with British history. (Yes, I'm an Anglophile, hahaha!). During the pandemic, I have read quite a bit about the Tudors, as well as watching every documentary I could find, as well as history fiction shows made about Henry VIII's life, six wives, and reign.
I really felt like Anne Boleyn got a raw deal. It was such a misogynistic time period. She was accused of infidelity, incest with her own brother, as well as witchcraft. There was such hypocrisy too, since Henry had all kinds of affairs. I have read that Anne was super calm during her trial, which must have been so hard. They were out to get her and they succeeded. I wish more of her story survived. I like to try to guess what she was thinking or feeling. I was reading online recently that some today feel she was an early feminist. I agree.
Lyrics:
ANNE BOLEYN
VERSE 1:
Back then, they would call you “a whore”
But, Henry was such a big, fat bore
Anne was a fashion trendsetter
Henry wrote her some love letters
Funny! At first, she turned him down
Then, he took the church with his crown…
CHORUS:
Their love was like a raging sea
But, it doesn’t seem fair to me
He had so many in his bed
I can’t believe she lost her head
He rewrote the theology
There was so much hypocrisy…
VERSE 2:
She couldn’t give him a male heir
So, Henry had lots of affairs
She asked him where he went at night
Then, they had a lot of bad fights
He had a romance with her maid
She was so done playing charades…
CHORUS:
Their love was like a raging sea
But, it doesn’t seem fair to me
He had so many in his bed
I can’t believe she lost her head
He rewrote the theology
There was so much hypocrisy…
VERSE 3:
Henry had all of the power
So, he put her in the Tower
I admire her strength on trial
She was calm in her denial
She was a victim of his lust
The outcome was wrong, so unjust!
CHORUS+:
Their love was like a raging sea
But, it doesn’t seem fair to me
He had so many in his bed
I can’t believe she lost her head
He rewrote the theology
There was so much hypocrisy…
There was so much hypocrisy…
Please keep your comments respectful, honest, and constructive. Please focus on the song and not the demo.
Comments
brilliantly fresh take on the anne boleyn story. she certainly did get a raw deal. i like the way you are singing it with the intensity of the present, rather than as a historical ballad.
I loved this re-appraisal of Anne Boleyn. Indeed there was, and still is, so much hypocrisy. By coincidence I wrote a song, The Maze, about Catherine Howard, Henry's 5th wife who was also beheaded. As with Anne, once the tongues started wagging in Henry's court she was done for.
And nothing (much) has changed in 500 years... love this take on Anne Boleyn's story. Henry was an absolute homicidal narcissist, yet he's still celebrated to this day. Great job reclaiming the narrative here.